A hierarchy of courts and tribunals operate within each State and Territory, with the High Court being the highest court in the Australian judicial system (diagram 13.12).

The majority of courts handle matters that are criminal or civil in nature, while tribunals provide a less costly alternative for progressing some civil and administrative matters outside the formality of a court. A criminal matter generally arises where a charge has been laid either by police or some other prosecuting authority on the basis of a breach of criminal law. A civil matter occurs where there is a dispute between two or more individuals or organisations, where one party seeks legal remedy for an injury or loss from the other party who is alleged to be liable.

The majority of less serious matters are heard before magistrates and more serious matters are heard before judges. For criminal matters the seriousness is often determined by the nature of the alleged offence. In a civil context, seriousness is generally determined according to the compensation being sought. A court or tribunal's ability to deal with a civil, criminal or other matter will depend on the state or territory's legislation or jurisdiction applicable to that particular level of court.

The hierarchy of courts also applies to appeal matters. Where grounds for appeal exist, the appeal process is available in both criminal and civil matters. Appeals resulting from civil tribunal decisions may be referred to the Magistrates', District/County, Supreme or Commonwealth Courts, depending on the jurisdiction and the rights of appeal. Criminal appeals resulting from the Magistrates' Court can be appealed at the District/County, Supreme or Commonwealth Court level in the first instance. The High Court of Australia is the highest court of appeal for both criminal and civil cases.

Criminal courts

A system of courts for the hearing of criminal matters exists in all Australian states and territories. Once charges are laid by police, the court will hear evidence by both prosecution and defence, and will make a decision as to whether or not the defendant is guilty. In cases where the defendant is found guilty, the court may also record a conviction and impose a penalty.

All states and territories have a Supreme Court that can deal with any criminal matter. The larger jurisdictions also have an intermediate level of court, known as the District or County Court, that deals with the majority of serious offences. The Supreme Courts and Intermediate Courts are collectively referred to as the Higher Courts. All defendants that are dealt with by the Higher Courts have an automatic entitlement to a trial before a judge and jury. In some jurisdictions, the defendant may elect to have the matter heard before a judge alone. Offences that must be heard before a judge and jury are known as indictable offences. These include offences such as murder, manslaughter and drug importation as well as serious sexual offences, robberies and assaults.

The lowest level of criminal court is the Magistrates' Court, also known as the Court of Summary Jurisdiction, Local Court or Court of Petty Sessions. The majority of criminal cases are heard in these courts. Cases heard in Magistrates' Courts do not involve a jury, and a magistrate determines the guilt or innocence of the defendant. This is known as a summary proceeding. More serious offences are dealt with by the higher court levels.

Each state and territory also has a Children's Court to deal with offences alleged to have been committed by children or juveniles. In all states and territories children under 10 years of age cannot be charged with a criminal offence. The maximum age that defendants are considered to be a child or juvenile is under the age of 18 years at the time an offence was committed in all states and territories, except in Queensland. Defendants in Queensland are deemed an adult at 17 years of age or over at the time an offence was committed. In the main these courts deal with summary proceedings, however in some jurisdictions they have the power to also hear indictable matters.

13.12 HIERARCHY OF COURTS

A defendant proven guilty in a criminal matter is entitled to appeal against the conviction or against the severity of the penalty imposed. Under some circumstances, the prosecution is also entitled to appeal against the leniency of the penalty. The states and territories differ in the way in which they manage appeals. Some appeals from Magistrates' Courts may be heard before the Intermediate Courts. In other jurisdictions the Supreme Court may hear these appeals. In most jurisdictions an appeal court or Court of Criminal Appeal may be constituted to hear appeals from the Supreme or Intermediate Courts, with the highest court of appeal for all jurisdictions being the High Court of Australia.

The ABS Criminal Courts collection produces national statistics about defendants dealt with by the criminal jurisdictions of the Higher (Supreme and Intermediate), Magistrates' and Children's Courts of Australia for a financial year. The statistics provide a profile of the characteristics of finalised defendants, as well as data about the offences for which they have been charged, their guilt or innocence, and sentence outcomes for those proven guilty.

Criminal courts defendant summary characteristics

Diagram 13.13 presents summary characteristics of defendants dealt with by the Higher, Magistrates' and Children's Courts of Australia. 'Finalised defendant' refers to all charges against a person or organisation having been formally completed so that the defendant ceases to be an item of work to be dealt with by a particular court.

In 2007-08, there were a total of 675,765 defendants finalised in the Higher, Magistrates' and Children's Courts. The total comprised: 92% or 619,542 finalised defendants in the Magistrates' Courts; 6% or 39,412 defendants in the Children's Court's; and 2% or 16,811 defendants in the Higher Courts.

Of those defendants finalised in the Higher Courts, 85% (14,342 defendants) were adjudicated, meaning that the court made a determination of the defendant's guilt or innocence of the offence(s) with which they were charged. The remaining 15% (2,469 defendants) were finalised by non-adjudicated methods, in which there is no determination of the charges by the court. This includes outcomes such as all charges being withdrawn by the prosecution.

In the Magistrates' Courts, 91% (565,833 finalised defendants) were adjudicated, while 9% (53,691 defendants) were finalised by non-adjudicated methods.

In the Children's Courts, 81% (31,986 finalised defendants) were adjudicated and 19% (7,425 defendants) were finalised by non-adjudicated methods.

An adjudicated defendant is either a person or an organisation finalised via a guilty plea or a decision by the court as to their guilt or innocence of the final charges laid. Defendants can also be finalised by non-adjudicated methods such as transfer to other court levels or withdrawal by the prosecution.

In 2007-08, defendants were adjudicated in the Higher Courts for principal offences that fall within the following divisions of the Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC): acts intended to cause injury (23%); illicit drug offences (18%); sexual assault (15%); robbery/extortion (11%); and unlawful entry with intent (9%). Over three quarters of defendants adjudicated (76% or 10,861 defendants) by the Higher Courts had a principal offence in one of these five categories (table 13.14).

Nationally, 92% (13,204) of adjudicated defendants were found guilty or pleaded guilty in the Higher Courts, while 8% (1,141) were acquitted.

Defendants were most likely to be acquitted for the principal offences of sexual assault (24%) and homicide (18%).

All defendants charged with road traffic offences (100%) and almost all defendants charged with public order offences; unlawful entry with intent; illicit drugs and weapons and explosives offences (all 98%) were proven guilty (i.e. either a guilty plea or a guilty finding in the Higher Court during 2007-08 (table 13.14).

In the Higher Courts, the most prevalent principal offences for both male and female adjudicated defendants were acts intended to cause injury (23% of males and 22% of females), and illicit drugs (18% of males and 21% of females). Proportionally, more females were adjudicated for the principal offence of deception (17%) than were males (4%). In contrast, there were proportionally more males than females with a principal offence of sexual assault (16% and 2% respectively) (graph 13.15).

Road traffic offences accounted for the greatest proportion (45% or 256,963) of defendants adjudicated in the Magistrates' Courts in 2007-08. After road traffic offences, the largest proportion of defendants were charged with: public order offences (11%); dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons (9%); acts intended to cause injury (8%); offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations (6%) and illicit drug offences (5%).

Nationally, 96% (541,497) of adjudicated defendants were proven guilty in the Magistrates' Courts, while 4% (24,330) were acquitted.

Defendants adjudicated in the Magistrates' Courts were most likely to be acquitted for abduction (39%), homicide (37%) and sexual assault (20%) offences.

The principal offences with the highest proportion of defendants proven guilty in the Magistrates' Courts were illicit drug offences and dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons (both 99%) and weapons and explosive and deception offences (both 98%) (table 13.17).

In the Magistrates' Courts, road traffic offences accounted for 44% of adjudicated male defendants and half (50%) of all female adjudicated defendants. Public order offences accounted for 12% of male and 8% of female adjudicated defendants, while dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons accounted for 9% of male and 7% of female adjudicated defendants.

There was variation for some offence types in the proportion of male and female defendants adjudicated in the Children's Courts. Adjudicated males had higher proportions than adjudicated females for the following offences: unlawful entry with intent (14% of males, 5% of females); property damage (7% of males, 4% of females); and dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons (6% of males, 4% of females).

Proportionally, there were more female defendants charged for the following offences than male defendants: deception (20% of females and 8% of males); acts intended to cause injury (19% of females, 15% of males); and theft (16% of females, 13% of males) (graph 13.21).

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